‘Tiger King’ Star Carole Baskin Duped Into Fake ‘Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon’ Interview

Carole Baskin didn’t realize what she was getting into. One of the stars of Netflix’s latest hit documentary, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness, fell for a prank pulled off by a pair of YouTube pranksters.

Josh Pieters and Archie Manners, a pair of British vloggers, got creative in their most recent prank. The two wondered what it would take to pull one over on celebrities by getting them to agree to a fake interview. It turns out some clever ideas and nifty editing is the all the two needed. Using clips from James Corden on The Late Late Show along with Jimmy Fallon, the two pulled in the Tiger King star for an interview. Baskin was among a list of others, including Love Island couple Molly-Mae and Tommy Fury and British singer Craig David among others.

The two documented how they were able to pull off the fake-out in an interview with Insider. “I think it’s also very hard when you are live on an interview with who you think is James Corden or Jimmy Fallon, to go, ‘Hold on a second, that’s not Jimmy Fallon,’ when it sounds like him,” Pieters shared. “You’d have to be pretty sure of yourself and pretty brave to stop the interview.” The two were stunned that their plot worked, especially since Baskin has been very limited in her media appearances, “I think she did an interview for a local paper in Tampa where she’s from,” Pieters explained. “But this was her first worldwide exclusive interview, which is just quite something.”

As for the interview, the two released it on Sunday afternoon in what equated to a 12-minute segment. Baskin was asked about her park and what it has been like amid the coronavirus pandemic. In her first interview since the Netflix series dropped, she explained that things have bene tough due to the lost tourism and that they had to let go of half of her staff. She said the animals remain in good health and care because they didn’t need to let any of that staff go due to them being volunteers.

After the interview E! News then spoke with Baskin about the whole thing with Baskin revealing that she was suspicious of the whole thing from the get-go. “I was suspicious as we were doing it because the questions appeared taped,” she said. “But had no idea it would turn out to be such a fun prank.” She seemed to not be as offended about the whole ordeal.